Bedsheet



. 31, 1939. R. c. DICK' 9 1 9 BEDSHEET Filed Jan. 21, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet l R. C. DICK BEDSHEET Filed Jan. 21, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Jan. 31, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE A BEDSHEET Application January 21, 1938, Serial No. 186,128

6 Claims.

This invention pertains to bed clothing and more particularly to an improved bedsheet and method of making the same.

Heretofore in the manufacture of bedsheets it 5 has been customary to Weave the sheeting of a width approximately corresponding to the desired width of the bedsheet which is to be made and then to tear the sheeting transversely to form lengths each proper to make one sheet, in-

10 cluding a turned hem at the top and bottom. After the proper length has thus been prepared, the hems are turned and stitched, the hemming process including, if desired, the pulling out and/ or other manipulation of certain of the wefts 15 to give a hemstitched effect. The finished sheet thus has selvage edges at its sides and a hem at the top and bottom, but the making of these hems requires accuracy and care in manipulation, while the extra material used in making 20 the hems may amount to five per cent or more of the total length of the material used, sothat the provision of the hems in accordance with the customary practice constitutes a very considerable item in the cost of sheet manufacture.

25 Bedsheets are ordinarily made in a comparatively few standard lengths, for example 99, 108 and 113 inches, and the maximum difference between the shortest and longest sheet is a rather small fraction of the total length of even the 30 shortest sheet. On the other hand, sheets are made in a considerably greater number of widths, for instance, 54, 63, '72, 81 and 90 inches (for the reason that beds differ greatly in width although of substantially a single length), and thus 35 the maximum difference between the widest and narrowest sheet is a very substantial fraction of the width of the narrowest sheet.

Even though carefully woven, a piece of sheeting contains defects here and there which cannot 40 be included in a bedsheet of good commercial grade, and thus in dividing a length of sheeting to make sheets in accordance with usual procedure, much waste may result in the elimination of defective areas. It is manifest that since the 45 variation in the length of standard sheets is small, little saving of material can be made by cutting a short sheet to avoid a defect which would otherwise be included in a longer sheet. However, were there as great a difference in 5 length as there is in width, it would often be possible to avoid much waste of material by cutting sheets of differing lengths so as to fit in between defects in the sheeting.

One object of the present invention is to pro- 55 vide a novel bedsheet and a method of making the same such that waste of material due to defects in the sheeting may be substantially reduced and the cost of the finished sheet may, for this and other reasons, be substantially less than that of a sheet of similar quality made by usual methods.

In tearing the sheeting to form a sheet-length in accordancewith usual practice, the line of tear follows the filling and thus, since, as a matter of actual fact, the filling is somewhat curved rather than accurately straight, the ends of the sheet length are curved and the resulting sheet, except by the exercise of great care in hemming, laundering, etc., may be crooked. In accordance with the present invention, whereby the top and bottom edges of the sheet are formed from selvages of the sheeting, the danger of making crooked sheets is avoided.

Moreover, by arranging the wefts to extend lengthwise of the sheet and the warps to extend transversely, the sheet is stronger than sheets of usual construction, and since the only decrease in length is that due to shrinkage of the fabric in finishing, it is readily possible to finish the sheets actually to full length, Whereas ordinary sheets are measured by the torn length of the material and are actually less than full length by the width of the hem-forming material.

It is a commonly observed fact that sheets wear most at certain rather definite areas, for instance, at that part of the length of the sheet at which the elbows of the occupant of the bed most often contact the sheet, but so far as is known, no attempt has heretofore been made to impart extra strength or wear-resistant qualities to those areas at which wear usually manifests itself. A further object of the present invention is to provide a sheet possessing extra or unusual resistance to wear at certain predetermined portions, for instance, at those points in its length 40 at which the elbows, hips or toes of the occupant of the bed most commonly come in contact with the sheet.

As ordinarily made, the top hem of a bedsheet is wider than the bottom hem, principally for ornamental appearance, but since the hem is made by turning and seaming the sheeting and since it is practically impossible to foretell exactly What part of the length of the sheeting will go into the hem, it has heretofore been impractical to impart to the hem-forming material itself any ornamental effect during the weaving, and thus any attempt at ornamentation of the hem has heretofore been secured by costly embroidery or the like.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a sheet and a method of making it such that the top hem (and the bottom hem as well, if desired) may be given various ornamental effects capable of production by weaving methods, including dobby or jacquard designs, during the weaving of the sheeting, so that sheets of highly ornamental and distinctive appearance may be produced at a cost not greatly exceeding unornamented sheets made by usual methods.

Other and further objects and advantages of the present invention will be pointed out hereinafter in the following more detailed description and by reference to the accompanying drawings, in which- Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic, fragmentary plan view of a length of sheeting made in accordance with the present invention, a portion thereof being shown to greatly enlarged scale;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary transverse section through the sheeting of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary plan view, to much larger scale, showing a portion of the sheeting of Fig. 1 adjacent to one of the selvages;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary section illustrating sheeting of modified construction having a hemsimulating portion of tubular type;

Fig. 5 is a diagrammatic plan view of a finished sheet made in accordance with the present invention, a portion of its area being shown greatly enlarged;

Fig. 6 is a section on the line 66 of Fig. 5, to larger scale;

Fig. 7 is a View similar to Fig. 1, but to smaller scale, illustrating a modified construction; and

Fig. 8 is another view similar to Fig. 1 but to smaller scale, showing a still further modification.

Referring to Figs. 1 to 3, inclusive, the numeral l designates a length of finished sheeting made in accordance with the present invention. This sheeting comprises warp yarns 2 and weft yarns 3, and in accordance with one preferred proce dure, the warp yarns 4 adjacent to the left-hand margin of the sheeting, as viewed in Fig. 1, are heavier than the normal warp yarns 5 forming the main body of the sheeting, and adjacent to the right-hand margin another group of heavier warp yarns 6 is provided. Preferably the group 5 is wider than the group 4, although both groupsmay be of the same width if desired.

The sheeting may be woven upon a loom of any suitable type, but is woven of a width closely corresponding to the length of the sheet which it is desired to make, allowance being made for shrinkage in the finishing operations. The sheeting may be made of any desired degree of fineness with any usual or desired number of warps and wefts per inch, and the yarns employed may be of any desired material, for example, cotton or linen, and having any desired finish. In weaving the sheeting, the heavier warps 4 and 6 not only reinforce and strengthen the sheet, but result in the formation of bands l3 and I4 adjacent to the opposite edges of the sheeting which are distinctive in being thicker than the main body of the sheeting, these bands I3 and I4 being designed to form hem-simulating bands or areas in the finished sheet.

These bands 13 and I4 are bordered exteriorly by true selvages H and [2, respectively, for example, tape or double tape selvages, and may, if desired, be set off from the main body or intermediate portion of the sheeting by narrow bands 1 and 8 designed to simulate hemstitching from which the warps may, if desired, be wholly omitted. Preferably the width of these openwork narrow bands 1 and 8 is maintained by employing some special shedding operation for the warps adjacent to the opposite edges of the narrow openwork bands, for example, a mock or true leno weave may be employed, or some similar structure designed to prevent the warps which border these openwork bands from. sliding into the open space. Such an arrangement is indicated diagrammatically at 9 and i6, respectively, in Fig. 3. Preferably, the edges of the openwork band are strengthened by the use of cable or ply warps. While the sheet is here shown as having a hemstitch effect, the hems may be plain hems, if desired.

Instead of depending entirely upon.the use of heavier warps near the margins of the fabric to form the heavy hem-simulating bands, it is contemplated that other procedures may be employed, such, for example, as some special shedding of the warps, for instance, such as to produce a twill or satin effect or the like, or to produce a double-face fabric, or any of the usual expedients by which a greater quantity of yarn may be introduced into a given area of the fabric than is possible by ordinary plain weaving, it being understood that the body portion of the sheeting will ordinarily be woven in a plain weave.

Further, alternatively, as indicated in Fig. 4, the hem-simulating band may be woven of tubular construction, wherein the body portion i has a band comprising the two separate plies l3 and M which at their outer edges merge in the selvage l I. Preferably the selvage should in any case be as narrow as is practical in order that the hem-simulating band may most closely approximate in appearance an actual turned hem.

Having prepared the sheeting as above described, or in an equivalent way, and having finished it in accordance with usual modes of finishing sheeting, the length of sheeting is then out or preferably torn along lines, such as the lines l5, l6 (Fig. 1), so as to provide a sheetforming piece I! of a length slightly exceeding (for instance by 5%) the desired width of the finished sheet to allow for shrinkage and for the edge finish. Such pieces i? may be cut in succession from the length of sheeting until the entire length has thus been used up, but if, as

often happens, a defect l8 should occur in the sheeting, it is requisite to cut out such defect in order that it may not appear in the finished sheet. As indicated in Fig. 1, the piece ill is designed, for example, for a sheet ninety inches wide, but as illustrated, the defect is occurs at such a distance from the line It that it would not be possible to out another piece ll for a ninety inch sheet in succession to the piece ll, without including the defect !8. However, since sheets vary substantially in width, it may be possible, as illustrated in Fig. 1, to cut a piece 2f! for a sixtythree inch wide sheet, in succession to the piece ll, without including the defect i8, by arranging the next division line at the point is. This leaves but a small section of waste material, including the defect E8, to be removed, the next line of division 2! being spaced but a short distance from the line. I8, and it may then be possible to out another length ll useful in making a ninety inch sheet, or one of lesser standard width, according to the locationof the next defect encountered.

Ordinarily but three, and possibly but two lengths of sheet will be made by a given mill, 

